Stop being silly!it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the Worlds most popular single toy brand to be counterfeited. It's not like their strongly guarded designs, moulds and manufacturing processes are being pumped out of a factory in somewhere like China or something!

Wow, I guess I must be lucky. I have three lego stores within an hour of my house. Must suck to not have any nearby.

How does the clearance scene look in your neck of the woods? I'm willing to bet mine is exponentially better. I'll take regular super cheap LEGO over having a LEGO store close just about any day of the week.

Yea but the problem is that some of us aren't lucky to live where there's much in the way of decent sales. Where i live, its like "Wait 6 months to a year and you might get lucky on a couple really good scores otherwise its *Meh* at best"

Wow, I guess I must be lucky. I have three lego stores within an hour of my house. Must suck to not have any nearby.

How does the clearance scene look in your neck of the woods? I'm willing to bet mine is exponentially better. I'll take regular super cheap LEGO over having a LEGO store close just about any day of the week.

Yea but the problem is that some of us aren't lucky to live where there's much in the way of decent sales. Where i live, its like "Wait 6 months to a year and you might get lucky on a couple really good scores otherwise its *Meh* at best"

@ACWWGal2011 I was just poking at the "I live within spitting distance of a million LEGO stores, how to the rest of you plebes function" comment =) (I am exaggerating of course)It makes me feel better that even though I don't get to regularly go to a LEGO store I have frequent access to healthy clearance prices on a number of desirable sets. It makes the hobby $ go further. I realize the clearance prices are also a luxury in their own right.

Man that was quick. It's almost like they have access to production behind the scenes or something

As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released. Literally anyone moderately skilled with Photoshop could create the same thing.

As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released. Literally anyone moderately skilled with Photoshop could create the same thing.

Man that was quick. It's almost like they have access to production behind the scenes or something

As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released. Literally anyone moderately skilled with Photoshop could create the same thing.

As far as the Behind the scenes theory there's people on the "Every Brick Group" on facebook, including me, who strongly believe that there's no such thing as a separate company called "Lepin" but instead Lepin is nothing but a secret/hidden branch to the Lego company.

As far as the box, that's part of what's driving me nuts. I can find results for Lepin mountain cave boxes but no official info so i don't know if its a real deal or not. Hope it is b/c i REALLY want that set

As far as the Behind the scenes theory there's people on the "Every Brick Group" on facebook, including me, who strongly believe that there's no such thing as a separate company called "Lepin" but instead Lepin is nothing but a secret/hidden branch to the Lego company.

Man that was quick. It's almost like they have access to production behind the scenes or something

As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released. Literally anyone moderately skilled with Photoshop could create the same thing.

As far as the Behind the scenes theory there's people on the "Every Brick Group" on facebook, including me, who strongly believe that there's no such thing as a separate company called "Lepin" but instead Lepin is nothing but a secret/hidden branch to the Lego company.

Maybe I'm an idiot, but what in the world would be the financial incentive to undercut themselves on price, devalue their own brand, etc? Am I missing something here?

Man that was quick. It's almost like they have access to production behind the scenes or something

As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released. Literally anyone moderately skilled with Photoshop could create the same thing.

As far as the Behind the scenes theory there's people on the "Every Brick Group" on facebook, including me, who strongly believe that there's no such thing as a separate company called "Lepin" but instead Lepin is nothing but a secret/hidden branch to the Lego company.

Maybe I'm an idiot, but what in the world would be the financial incentive to undercut themselves on price, devalue their own brand, etc? Am I missing something here?

There's no logic to it. In addition to the factors you mentioned, doing so would also completely jeopardize Lego's relationships with licensing partners, since Lepin does not hesitate to copy licensed sets, and if such an action were discovered by companies like Disney or Warner Bros. they would not hesitate to pull out of their licensing contracts with Lego. Of course, if you're intent on buying counterfeit products anyway, it does make for a convenient way to justify it to yourself—probably the only reason such a ridiculous conspiracy theory exists in the first place.

Man that was quick. It's almost like they have access to production behind the scenes or something

As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released. Literally anyone moderately skilled with Photoshop could create the same thing.

As far as the Behind the scenes theory there's people on the "Every Brick Group" on facebook, including me, who strongly believe that there's no such thing as a separate company called "Lepin" but instead Lepin is nothing but a secret/hidden branch to the Lego company.

Maybe I'm an idiot, but what in the world would be the financial incentive to undercut themselves on price, devalue their own brand, etc? Am I missing something here?

There's no logic to it. In addition to the factors you mentioned, doing so would also completely jeopardize Lego's relationships with licensing partners, since Lepin does not hesitate to copy licensed sets, and if such an action were discovered by companies like Disney or Warner Bros. they would not hesitate to pull out of their licensing contracts with Lego. Of course, if you're intent on buying counterfeit products anyway, it does make for a convenient way to justify it to yourself—probably the only reason such a ridiculous conspiracy theory exists in the first place.

to date, the only fake legos buying I've been doing is some figures and a set of knock off dino's i got while at comic con last year.

Honestly i'd rather buy the real deal from lego since they bags tend to be numbered but the problem is that I did the math plus checked though the site. After tax, it would be 276.36 for the set which is a bit steep for my wallet.

Slightly less ridiculous (but still utterly ridiculous) theory is that LEPIN is a well-hidden subsidiary of Disney. Lego is valued around $8Billion, Disney is around $90Billion. Disney could undercut Lego, crush the profits and force a buyout to save the company. A heavier grade of tinfoil hat would even lead to Disney suing Lego for failing to protect Disney's IP from the evil LEPIN.

Utterly and completely insane theories, but it would help explain why there has been no report at all that Disney, who defend their IP against mom-and-pop bakers, has taken legal action against LEPIN for copyright infringement.

No matter who Lepin "is", one thing must be true, they are being financed by someone with some decent money. The way they can knock out sets (produce) rivals Lego themesleves. So some sort of shady backer would not surprise me, by shady I mean a legit source.

No matter who Lepin "is", one thing must be true, they are being financed by someone with some decent money. The way they can knock out sets (produce) rivals Lego themesleves. So some sort of shady backer would not surprise me, by shady I mean a legit source.

I doubt Lego is in danger. There's way to many people out there Loyal to Lego branded stuff.

Admittedly, I was on the cusp of trying out a few Lepin sets several months ago just to see what the quality was like. I put together a list of all of the modulars and found the absolute lowest priced sellers. But, my mind changed somewhere along the lines and I ended up deciding to not make any purchases.

After seeing this new Ninjago set hit the Lepin market, I thought I'd take a peek to see what things were selling for now, seven months later.

I can confirm that, in all but one modular set, prices for Lepin sets have increased on average by 18% (a low of 10% and a high of 30%). Assembly Square came onto the scene at the $150 range. Obviously the market is appreciating for these sets, despite what several comments in this thread would suggest.

I'm not really saying all this for or against Lepin. Just an interesting observation I made. To be honest, if the quality is as good as most say it is, then I can see it quite easy for them to start to justify the price increases. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until another "Lepin" comes in and undercuts their profits, but the cycle will only continue.

Slightly less ridiculous (but still utterly ridiculous) theory is that LEPIN is a well-hidden subsidiary of Disney. Lego is valued around $8Billion, Disney is around $90Billion. Disney could undercut Lego, crush the profits and force a buyout to save the company. A heavier grade of tinfoil hat would even lead to Disney suing Lego for failing to protect Disney's IP from the evil LEPIN.

Utterly and completely insane theories, but it would help explain why there has been no report at all that Disney, who defend their IP against mom-and-pop bakers, has taken legal action against LEPIN for copyright infringement.

Now THIS is a tasty conspiracy (and one I don't think I've heard before)! And, if you've REALLY delved into some of the genuinely shady shit that Disney has been involved in over the last 60 years (their land purchasing, no fly zones and handling of park accidents come immediately to mind) then it's a quite believable conspiracy...

Slightly less ridiculous (but still utterly ridiculous) theory is that LEPIN is a well-hidden subsidiary of Disney. Lego is valued around $8Billion, Disney is around $90Billion. Disney could undercut Lego, crush the profits and force a buyout to save the company. A heavier grade of tinfoil hat would even lead to Disney suing Lego for failing to protect Disney's IP from the evil LEPIN.

Utterly and completely insane theories, but it would help explain why there has been no report at all that Disney, who defend their IP against mom-and-pop bakers, has taken legal action against LEPIN for copyright infringement.

Now THIS is a tasty conspiracy (and one I don't think I've heard before)! And, if you've REALLY delved into some of the genuinely shady shit that Disney has been involved in over the last 60 years (their land purchasing, no fly zones and handling of park accidents come immediately to mind) then it's a quite believable conspiracy...

I would like to point out that just because Disney hasn't taken legal action doesn't mean they're not preparing a case. That kind of thing takes a lot of time, even moreso in a country that doesn't have the best track record of protecting the IP rights of foreign businesses. It's not as simple as sending a small business in America or Europe a cease and desist notice and expecting them to follow through without resisting or contesting it. Disney's rapid action in those sorts of cases is not because they are more of a threat than competition from larger foreign bootlegging organizations, but because they are easier targets.

Even Lego is, as far as I'm aware, still in the process of preparing its case against Lepin, and their products are the ones being more directly infringed. I think it's a little premature to assume that Disney's lack of publicly visible action is an indication of complacency or permissiveness.

OBVIOUSLY it's only a conspiracy theory - my comment was probably more directed at those who think Disney to be some sort of paragon of respectability and fair play. Disneys history is littered with examples of morally bankrupt and outright illegal activity (where they generally lobby hard enough to get laws changed before any action). They have soiled the law itself as far as copyright, labour, liability and property law goes! I still think one of the main reasons the Star Wars sale went through was that Disney was the only real life company evil enough to embody the Dark lords interests.

Lyichir said:As always, they don't need to have any sort of special access to create a fake box. That's all it is—not even a real box, but a picture of a box, with the promise of a counterfeit product being produced once the genuine set is actually released.

Some of Lepin's recent sets were released 2-3 weeks after the official sets were scheduled to release. This includes the Saturn V set.

^ Is the build exactly the same? I say this because I believe it would be impossible to reverse engineer the SV from pics of the set. HOWEVER. You can build ANYTHING if you the instructions to do so...

Admittedly, I was on the cusp of trying out a few Lepin sets several months ago just to see what the quality was like. I put together a list of all of the modulars and found the absolute lowest priced sellers. But, my mind changed somewhere along the lines and I ended up deciding to not make any purchases.

After seeing this new Ninjago set hit the Lepin market, I thought I'd take a peek to see what things were selling for now, seven months later.

I can confirm that, in all but one modular set, prices for Lepin sets have increased on average by 18% (a low of 10% and a high of 30%). Assembly Square came onto the scene at the $150 range. Obviously the market is appreciating for these sets, despite what several comments in this thread would suggest.

I'm not really saying all this for or against Lepin. Just an interesting observation I made. To be honest, if the quality is as good as most say it is, then I can see it quite easy for them to start to justify the price increases. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until another "Lepin" comes in and undercuts their profits, but the cycle will only continue.

Is that aftermarket or new prices in China or the end price in foreign countries? Increases can happen for a number of reasons, but as Lepin are taking advantage of Lego's enforced scarcity, they'll probably keep making the sets for as long as they're profitable. For current sets, they can't increase the price too much, because then they'll lose the edge of being cheaper.

They couldn't even be bothered photoshopping the box of #21310 Old Fishing Store and misspell "Ideas"?! I guess their target audience doesn't care.

After seeing a L*pin rip-off of #4000007 Ole Kirk's House, nothing surprises me anymore. You care enough about Lego that you want to build the house of TLG's founder, but by paying a Chinese rip-off company?!

Admittedly, I was on the cusp of trying out a few Lepin sets several months ago just to see what the quality was like. I put together a list of all of the modulars and found the absolute lowest priced sellers. But, my mind changed somewhere along the lines and I ended up deciding to not make any purchases.

After seeing this new Ninjago set hit the Lepin market, I thought I'd take a peek to see what things were selling for now, seven months later.

I can confirm that, in all but one modular set, prices for Lepin sets have increased on average by 18% (a low of 10% and a high of 30%). Assembly Square came onto the scene at the $150 range. Obviously the market is appreciating for these sets, despite what several comments in this thread would suggest.

I'm not really saying all this for or against Lepin. Just an interesting observation I made. To be honest, if the quality is as good as most say it is, then I can see it quite easy for them to start to justify the price increases. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until another "Lepin" comes in and undercuts their profits, but the cycle will only continue.

Is that aftermarket or new prices in China or the end price in foreign countries? Increases can happen for a number of reasons, but as Lepin are taking advantage of Lego's enforced scarcity, they'll probably keep making the sets for as long as they're profitable. For current sets, they can't increase the price too much, because then they'll lose the edge of being cheaper.

New prices. I'm pretty darn sure prices on some stuff over on AliExpress is starting to show up at slightly higher prices then b4. Aftermarket? I really have no clue since I've heard people on facebook selling stuff but i don't know what they sold it for

I've e-mailed the link to LEGO and they have got back to me already and said thank you.

Why bother? Everyone and their mother knows at this point that Lepin copies Lego sets. It would seem an exercise in futility to waste your finite time on earth emailing Lego about something they already know.

On a different avenue, I never really considered conspiracy theories regarding Lepin. As some others have pointed out, the speed at which Lepin produces sets, as well as the breadth of current and retired copied sets that are offered, is pretty astounding. It seems hard to believe that any company could do this without some fairly deep pockets funding their operation. To think that there is a chance this funding originates from a familiar source is intriguing!

Based on what I've seen, it seems like the molding points (or whatever those are called) on individual Lepin pieces are different than those on Lego pieces, which leads me to believe that they are not likely produced at a facility that also makes Lego pieces. Also, the clutch power and overall quality seems to be very slightly less than Lego.

You can setup a big industrial region in China and then overnight they will duplicate an exact version of the whole region right next to yours producing the same products.

Given how fast Lepin is able to produce all the Lego sets I'm not surprised the government may have a hand in it.

Suing Lepin is useless, they can just drop the brand name and change it to Lepon or something and with the exact same manufacturing plants start producing the sets again.

What TLG CAN do is to be more competitive in terms of price and, as what they're doing now, produce more sets that use new patent protected part designs. This way they have the legal rights to sue whoever uses the new parts. This is the main reason why we're seeing new sets deviating further and further away from using standard bricks. The upcoming Ninjago City set is a good example.

Sets build with legal bricks (i.e. expired patents) are technically legal to manufacture by any company.

Suing Lepin is useless, they can just drop the brand name and change it to Lepon or something and with the exact same manufacturing plants start producing the sets again.

What TLG CAN do is to be more competitive in terms of price and, as what they're doing now, produce more sets that use new patent protected part designs. This way they have the legal rights to sue whoever uses the new parts.

I absolutely agree with the first paragraph above, and I've stated pretty much the same thing a couple of times previously.

The second part of your post sort of contradicts the first, though. If a Chinese company can and does copy any part, what good does it do to have it patent-protected? It will still be copied without consequence!

^ I was about to type the same thing. It's not just the bricks or instructions being copied either, there is IP infringement with the likes of Star Wars and Marvel - surprised Disney hasn't been doing more on that front...yet.